


England and Tea

by Milliethekitty27



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 21:53:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28014237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Milliethekitty27/pseuds/Milliethekitty27
Summary: Arthur Kirkland's first cup of tea was not one he enjoyed.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	England and Tea

The very first time Arthur Kirkland had his first cup of tea, he wasn’t very impressed. It was popular elsewhere, especially in Portugal, but he’d just… never really liked it. He actually hadn’t tried it much, but João loved it and kept trying to convince him to drink it. Arthur usually waved a hand and made some other comment, generally teasing João about preferring leaf juice to a much stronger ale. João always rolled his eyes. 

“You’ll discover how delicious it is one day.” he’d say. 

“I think that we’ll find a black swan before that happens.” Arthur would roll his eyes right back and they’d carry on whatever conversation they’d been having.

João accompanied Catherine of Braganza when she traveled to Britain in 1662 to marry the new King Charles II. It was an awful crossing; even João looked a bit seasick. The princess immediately asked for a cup of tea after stepping off on the dock.

João laughed as Arthur flailed a little. Arthur offered her an ale instead, but the princess looked disappointed. 

“I think you’ll have to start looking for a black swan, my friend.” João said at the wedding ceremony. He was holding a cup of tea while Arthur still held onto an ale. “She’s going to take your court by storm.”

“She’s Catholic.” Arthur snorted into his mug. “That alone is enough.” 

Arthur _liked_ Catherine, though. She was a bit pious, but she was fashionable. She walked with him fairly often, talking about the past kings and queens. She may not have been popular queen, surrounded by controversy, but for a Roman Catholic she wasn’t too bad. Catherine was a quiet and mild woman that never turned against her ever-sleeping-with-others husband and had grown to seemingly embrace the English court life. She grew on Arthur, for her love of the countryside, for her curiosity, and her personality. She was more interesting than he’d originally thought, even if she was Roman Catholic. 

She got him to taste tea in 1671, after years of trying to convince him. She pressed the cup into his unwilling hands and watched as he tasted it. 

He almost spat it out all over her and João almost cried laughing, visiting for a short period before he’d return home. 

“Ale is far better.” he said. She’d made a face at him and Charles II had laughed from where he was sitting. 

She had kept trying, though, and as it grew more popular Arthur had to cave - it wasn’t as bad as he thought. (he would die before he admitted it to João, though, because João was unbearable when he was smug) 

Arthur accompanied her to Portugal in 1692, several years after Charles II had died. He was going to wait a few days before returning back, both to settle her in and to speak with João about some issues, but she insisted he stay for tea one morning before he left. 

“Tell me, dear Arthur-” his former queen said rather mildly, her cup clicking onto the saucer. “-have you grown more fond of tea, or have all my efforts been in vain?” Arthur made a bit of a face.

“I like it.” he admitted finally. “Just don’t tell João.” João let out a bark of laughter, settling into the empty chair at Catherine’s other side after shucking off his coat. Arthur went red. “I just said it to make her happ-”

“Sure you did, my friend.” João kept grinning. “I suppose you’ll inform me that you’ve found some black swans, then?” Arthur scowled.

  
  


Arthur’s interest in tea grew and grew, even after Catherine died. Tea was popular at court, he’d say defensively. The East India Company, originally encouraged by Charles II, grew more and more powerful as it brought the tea he so loved. India and China had tea galore, which he savored on every visit. He declared war over spilled tea (America found out that the hard way) and found strength in the hot porcelain he’d press between his hands in any weather. He and João drank tea together despite the other trends, remembering a mild mannered queen who teased Arthur about his love for ale. 

The first nation Arthur invited for afternoon tea was João. It was 1850 and Arthur had attended a few of Duchess Anna of Bedford’s little tea parties. They were enjoyable and he enjoyed the hour or so to just relax a bit. João visited him and found Arthur sitting in the garden, a tray of sandwiches and cakes sitting next to the steaming pot of tea along with two cups. The British Empire raised an eyebrow.

“Are you coming to join me, then?” he asked rather dryly. João had laughed.

“If Catherine saw you now, I don’t think she’d recognize you.” 

“I _have_ grown more refined with age.” João had shaken his head, but they’d sat in the garden and drunk their tea, chatting about this and that like the old men they were (much of it was spent complaining about their rowdier neighbors and the struggles of colonies) 

Arthur’s love of tea stayed with him to the current day. He recalled Matthew handing him a steaming mug before they set off to discuss the matter of confederation, or sitting with Neeraja under the hot Indian sun to bicker about business. He remembered holding the lukewarm cups in shaking hand as he hid in a foxhole with Francis, the pair of them silently remembering days when the only thing you had to fear from the sky was an arrow or the rain, or gripping a cup as Churchill roared assurances over the radio that the war was not over yet, that they would stay calm and carry on. He drank tea whenever his blood pressure threatened to boil over (which was frequent in those Cold War years) and he only refrained dunking his cup over Francis’ head when he was stupid because he’d much rather drink the cup. 

Arthur kept a great china cabinet in his household. Many of the cups were incredibly old and faded with age and use. Some of them were newer and the ones he broke out when João came over to visit and they took tea together. Some of them were gifts, some were ones he’d bought, but he had a few on the top shelf that had belonged to Catherine or the other royals he treasured. 

Oh yes, he’d hated tea before, but now he would drink it whenever he needed. He just wouldn’t thank João for introducing it to him. After all, he couldn’t have João getting too big of a head now.

Judging by João’s smug smile, João knew that Arthur appreciated tea too much and was just too proud to thank him for it. Git.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!  
> This was written after I started wondering about tea in England, while drinking a cup of tea. For something that the English so love, it really hasn’t been around that long. This was written after a very brief examination of a few articles about the history of tea in Britain.I have midterms/finals coming up so I can’t be quite as thorough as I might have wanted to be, but that’s how life is in December; exams and holidays. Happy Hanukkah to those who celebrate!  
> João Henrique Lisboa-Carriedo is a fan name I found for APH Portugal. Portugal and England have a super long history together, apparently going back to the Treaty of Windsor in 1386 and some events earlier. I like to think they’re friends that bitch about Spain, France, and literally everyone else plus get into passionate discussions about anything and everything. Neeraja is the name I’ve been using for India.  
> Also, fun fact, there are black swans in Australia. England would explore Australia under James Cook in like 1770, so England actually liked tea before he found black swans. Ha ha.


End file.
